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Electric City Roller GrrrlZ family carnival in Great Falls

Electric City Roller Grrrlz, from left, Valerie McClellan, Amanda Brooks and Tina Mann practice for an upcoming event at Haure's Family Skating Center. The Electric City Roller GrrrlZ will roll out the welcome mat for Great Falls with their Family Carnival Day fundraiser(Photo: TRIBUNE File PHOTO)Buy Photo

Story Highlights

The Electric City Roller GrrrlZ will roll out the welcome mat for Great Falls with their Family Carnival Day fundraiser. Doors will be open from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday, June 27 at the Black Eagle Community Center, where kids can try their luck at games such as the bean bag toss or tarp football, while the adults bid on silent auction items from local businesses. There will be face painting, bounce houses, a dunk tank, cotton candy, and food courtesy of Brotha D's food truck.

As a local Women's Flat Track Roller Derby league, ECRG is run entirely by its players and is assisted by volunteers. The players choose a nonprofit beneficiary for each bout, said Team Captain Casey "Slim Hitman" Steinert, resulting in more than $30,000 contributed to community causes since the league was founded in 2011. Beneficiaries include the Children's Receiving Home, Toys for Tots and Peace Hospice.

In the past, each member was responsible for buying uniforms and paying for travel during the derby season, which runs year round. The team typically plays one bout per month with a month off in January when travel around Montana is at its most difficult.

ECRG makes its home in Great Falls but, like any other sports team, also travels to out-of-town bouts in cities around the region. They have been hosted by teams from as far away as North Dakota and Canada. Traditionally, the home team incurs the expense of putting on the matchup. In Great Falls, that means renting the Four Seasons Arena, laying the track, paying for motels for visiting referees and officials, printing tickets, programs, and posters, buying food and drink for skaters, and paying for sound and advertising for the event—all to the tune of about $3,000— and requiring a minimum of 25 volunteer non-skating officials. "Imagine if we had to pay them!" said Steinert.

On Jan. 24 of this year, ECRG added a coed junior roller derby team the Rock'N Rollerz to its repertoire, which involves non-bouting players such as co-director Janine "Hiebee Jeebee" Hieb introducing boys and girls ages 9-17 to the sport of roller derby.

As the league has grown and finding new teams to play has taken the players farther from home, ECRG started to look for ways to take the financial burden off its players. Proceeds for Saturday's event will go directly toward uniforms, travel costs, and expenses for hosting home bouts in Great Falls.

"The money we raise helps us so we can continue to help the community," said Hieb.

Admission to Family Carnival Day is free. Tickets for children's games will be 25 cents each, and kids get unlimited jumping in the three bounce houses for $7. Face painting by the Rock'N Rollerz is $1.

The Electric City Roller GrrrlZ will scrimmage in Missoula on July 18. They travel to Spokane Aug. 14-16 for Spokarnage, a regional roller derby tournament, before heading home to play against Dickinson Roller Derby Aug. 29 in their bout titled "A Midsummer's Night Scream." A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Walk to End Alzheimer's.

THE ESSENTIALS

What: ECRG Family Carnival Day

When: Saturday, June 27 from 3 to 7 p.m.

Where: Black Eagle Community Center, 2332 Smelter Ave. Black Eagle

Cost: No cost at the door. Tickets for games 25 cents each, face painting $1 and all-day pass for bounce houses $7.